A retired art teacher committed suicide at the Dignitas clinic because she was frustrated at the lack of interaction in modern life, because of our reliance on computers and the Internet.

The 89-year-old, who asked only to be identified as Anne before her death, was frustrated with the trappings of modern life, including fast food, consumerism and the amount of time people spend watching television.

Anne, a former electrician with the Royal Navy, was not terminally ill or seriously handicapped and traveled to Dignitas in Switzerland last month.

Before her death she told the Sunday Times: People are becoming more and more remote We are becoming robots. It is this lack of humanity.

Successful social interaction seems to require a level of courage nowadays. The trend away from social interaction suggests a general lack of courage. Apparently, courage is “not cool”. If it’s true that it takes so much courage to successfully interact (even in your own hometown), then something has gone wrong...very wrong.

8
posted on 04/07/2014 2:27:36 AM PDT
by equaviator
(There's nothing like the universe to bring you down to earth.)

“I think this computerized age is hard on the old timers. I know it’s difficult for me.
Cellphones should never been allowed to go further than being a phone.”

I hear you, however you do realize you wouldn’t be on Free Republic if it weren’t for the computerized age. In fact there would be no Free Republic. Plus you sell yourself short. Obviously you were able to master the computer enough to be on FR at any time of your choosing.

As to cellphones. Parents with children in school are very happy that cellphones can now be used to send text messages on them, as they can keep track of their school age children on them, and not have to worry so much as to their whereabouts or safety. When stuck waiting in doctors’ offices (and with Obamacare that wait could indeed lengthen) you can pull out your iphone or tablet and settle in to checking out FR or otherwise surf the web or read a book or magazine online or do bills, or play a game or watch a movie.

Years ago we couldn’t have imagined a microwave oven, now we can’t easily live without them. My mom claimed she never wanted a microwave, until she was given one, and then she was hooked. Technology advances, and I am in general delighted with it.

No one writes letters anymore; however, I maintain more people are writing now than ever before in history because of the internet, IM’s and e-mails that have made the U.S. Post Office almost obsolete. I can send messages back and forth at whim to friends overseas at the speed of the send button, and those in the military can keep in constant contact with their loved ones via e-mails and visually through Skype. Imagine that. Napoleon couldn’t do that, lol.

There are good aspects and bad ones to most anything in life, the yin and the yang. I guess you just roll with the punches on the bad things and thrive amongst the good. I for one prefer to see the good in today’s world of communication, even though occasionally its darker side gains some ascendancy. I just wouldn’t go back to the days of yore (except for in Hollywood acting) thinking that those days were so much better. In some ways yes, in many more ways, no.

To each its season, t’is the computer age, and believe me, existing in it is no reason on God’s great earth to decide to take an overdose of barbituates to end one’s life. That is the coward’s way out. Even if the woman ended up in a nursing home, she could have had friends there and social activities and some meaningful interactions. And nursing homes aren’t prisons; friends can come over and family and friends can take their loved ones out for visits. Granted, growing older, with its associated aches and pains isn’t necessarily a bowl full of cherries, but it still has its plusses, and it sure beats the alternative. Life is what you make of it; make lemonade.

And yet with every modern convenience that has a "good" use, I'd venture to say that we regress further and further from what makes us unique as a human race.

I'll offer your statement that "more people are writing now than ever before in history because of the internet, IMs and e-mails (etc.)." I'm not sure very much of this counts as "writing" by any objective measure. More and more of this "writing," as I see it, is in the form of e-mail and text messages that are spelled like something I'd expect to get from someone who is being held hostage.

With every step forward in one area of life, it seems like we're taking two steps backwards somewhere else.

12
posted on 04/07/2014 2:49:00 AM PDT
by Alberta's Child
("I've never seen such a conclave of minstrels in my life.")

I thought Dignitas' big claim to fame was helping those with terminal diseases in terrible pain end their lives without suffering. Anne was not suffering, except for perhaps psychological issues that could have been addressed. She was basically murdered.Dignitas just proved it does what it claimed not to do.

“With every step forward in one area of life, it seems like we’re taking two steps backwards somewhere else.”

No we aren’t. I maintain it’s probably how you prefer to look at life. The old glass half empty or glass half full thingy. How many Freepers do you think are over the age of 50? I maintain most of them.

The article says she was sad that she had to travel outside of the UK to commit suicide with Barbituates. So she has a relative using her story to fight for assisted suicide in Great Britain. Please, like you couldn't OD in GB. Makes you wonder if the relative decided it was time for her to go and convinced her of it to push an agenda. Any inheritance involved? I see a doctor also helped her fill out the "application".

I agree with you and I think there's more to it. People get on the Internet and make rude comments to others because of their anonymity but I believe that has become habit because I see people who are unbelievably rude to each other.

19
posted on 04/07/2014 3:07:32 AM PDT
by liberalh8ter
(The only difference between flash mob 'urban yutes' and U.S. politicians is the hoodies.)

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